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Six Dead After Two Big Aftershocks Strike Turkey; U.S. Supreme Court Hearing Arguments In Internet Regulation Case; Michigan State Wins First Home Game Since Tragedy. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 22, 2023 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


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[05:31:10]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Six people are dead, hundreds injured in Turkey after two large aftershocks struck at this exact moment in southern Turkey near the Syrian border. It is compounding the damage and suffering from the massive earthquake that killed tens of thousands just over two weeks ago. Right now nearly 900,000 people are living in temporary shelters.

CNN's Nada Bashir is live inside Turkey for us. And tell us -- tell us where you are there. I've been watching you this morning and it's amazing -- these volunteers working with kids trying to -- trying to keep everyone together and safe after these aftershocks have really compounded the challenges faced by survivors.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, Christine and those challenges are immense, to say the least. And we're at one of these hubs in Iskenderun. It's one of the largest of the tent cities -- camps here in the city where there are about 3,500 people currently being sheltered in this particular camp. And you can see here they've set up stations for people to come and get food -- to have their dinner and breakfast and lunch -- all served here.

There's also, as you mentioned, a center just away from where we are now where they are providing care for children. So there are activities, little education classes, a cinema room. But crucially, they're also providing psychosocial support for children, but also to the parents who have been through so, so much.

And you can see the expanse of this camp. This is one of the larger ones in Iskenderun. This is one of the provinces among the hardest hit by the earthquake two weeks ago. And as you mentioned, that significant aftershock on Monday was, of course, a huge concern and fear for so many in this city and across southeast Turkey.

Now if you just look around here -- I mean, it is very vast. This is one of the larger camps. But there are smaller ones dotted around and we were actually at one of (audio gap) a Syrian man who has already been displaced from the war in Syria and now he is homeless here. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I came here from Syria three years ago. Mahara was destroyed. Mahara in Iman was destroyed. We came here. We fled the bombardment and here we are now. How does God do this to us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: And look, Christine, these people have already been through so much. We are talking about thousands and thousands of people who have been made homeless. And when we spoke to some of those Syrian IDPs -- refugees in the previous camp that we were at this morning they were telling us that they didn't have any tents. That they were struggling to find food. That their loved ones and their children were sleeping out in the cold at night.

Now, the Turkish government has responded. They said they are trying to provide further support. Some 6,000 tents -- an additional 6,000 tents are being sent over to the affected areas following Monday's powerful aftershock. But everyone is still waiting for news of loved ones and family members in the hospital.

This is a hugely difficult time and this is a process that is going to take months if not years. They have a long way ahead and for these families it is -- it is difficult to imagine what they are going through in having to relieve those aftershocks on a daily basis -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Nada Bashir. Thank you so much for that excellent reporting as always.

Quick hits around the globe right now.

The death toll in Brazil rising to 44 after heavy rains that triggered flooding and landslides in the Sao Paulo area. More than 40 other people are feared missing.

A lack of rain in Italy causing smaller canals to dry up in Venice as fears increase of another drought. Experts blame a dry winter and less than half the normal snowfall in the Alps.

First lady Jill Biden departing today to visit Namibia and Kenya. It's part of U.S. efforts to strengthen ties with Africa. President Biden is expected to go there later this year.

All right. Coming up, a high-stakes case before the Supreme Court that could break the internet as we know it.

[05:35:00]

And an emotional win for Michigan State in its first home game since a mass shooting.

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ROMANS: Here is today's fast-forward lookahead. On his final day in Warsaw, Poland, President Biden will hold a key meeting with leaders of the Bucharest Nine. The countries make up the Eastern Flank of NATO.

Hearings could wrap up today for seven more Memphis police officers who are facing discipline in the Tyre Nichols case. Officials say they could face reprimand or be fired.

The Supreme Court today will hear oral arguments in a case that could upend Twitter. The plaintiffs say social media companies have knowingly helped terror groups in violation of U.S. law and they should be held liable.

The justice will also hear arguments for a second day in the case of Gonzalez versus Google. A decision could affect big tech that is currently using laws to shield themselves from user lawsuits.

[05:40:00]

CNN's Jessica Schneider breaks down this case.

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JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Lawsuits will be nonstop.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Supreme Court taking on a case that could reshape the internet, hearing arguments from a family who has lost a daughter and who now wants big tech to pay.

BEATRIZ GONZALEZ, SUING GOOGLE: We continue in this fight because we are seeking justice.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The Gonzalez family's long legal fight started when their 23-year-old daughter Nohemi was killed in Paris in 2015. Nohemi Gonzalez was at a bistro when ISIS terrorists unleashed gunfire, part of a coordinated citywide attack of bombings and shootings that killed 129 people. She was the only American.

GONZALEZ: It was a terrible, horrible moment in my life that I cannot describe the pain.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The Gonzalez family now wants YouTube and parent company Google to be held liable for Nohemi's death. Their lawyer arguing to the Supreme Court Tuesday that because YouTube not only allowed ISIS videos on its site but also recommended those videos to certain viewers. The social media site should be held responsible for aiding and abetting terrorism.

ERIC SCHNAPP, GONZALEZ FAMILY ATTORNEY: When they go beyond delivering to what you've asked for, to start sending things you haven't asked for, our contention is they're no longer acting as an interactive computer service.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. So even if I -- SCHNEIDER (voice-over): But Google says they are protected by the broad contours of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Congress passed the law in 1996 to shield internet platforms from being sued for harmful content posted by third parties on their sites. Google's lawyer argued that shield also applies to any recommendations the site might make.

LISA BLATT, ATTORNEY FOR GOOGLE: Exposing websites to liability for implicitly recommending third-party content defies the text and threatens today's internet.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): This is the first time the Supreme Court has considered the scope of Section 230. The justices acknowledge that if the Gonzalez family succeeds that would open up tech companies to a flood of lawsuits and would require social media sites to heavily police the content posted. And the justices also asked whether it's Congress and not the courts who should clarify how much tech companies are protected.

JUSTICE ELENA KAGAN, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Every other industry has to internalize the costs of its conduct. Why is it that the tech industry gets a pass? A little bit unclear.

On the other hand -- I mean, we're a court. We really don't know about these things. You know, these are not like the nine greatest experts on the internet. Isn't that something for Congress to do, not the court?

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The Gonzalez family has lost the case at the lower courts but they continue to search for justice after the death of their daughter at the hands of terrorists.

GONZALEZ: Nothing is going to give me back my daughter but at least that is something good is going to be accomplished.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

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ROMANS: All right. Emotional scenes at Michigan State last night as the Spartans' men's team played its first home basketball game since that mass shooting on campus.

Coy Wire has this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

Everyone knew that this was going to be an emotional night. The Spartans hosting number 17 Indiana in East Lansing. And the team encouraged everyone in attendance to wear white, showing unity, showing support for those affected. The shirts said "Spartan Strong" across the front. And what's more, is even the visiting Hoosiers players and coaches wore "Spartan Strong" shirts as well.

The students reserved eight seats for the eight victims in the shooting. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, as you can see, was quite emotional before tip-off.

The Spartans fell behind early, Christine, but then they go on a 22-7 run. A.J. Hoggard to Mady Sissoko for the alley-oop dunk. The crowd gets hyped. And then with just seconds to go in the first half, Tyson Walker with a deep three. Sparty has the lead at halftime.

In the second half, Sissoko's demonstrative denial of Malik Reneau emblematic of Michigan State's fierce determination to prevent a Hoosiers comeback. Spartans win 80-65.

Coach Izzo talking about the added meaning behind this game and the hopes he had for it.

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TOM IZZO, HEAD COACH, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: I just want to make people feel comfortable, you know, and I thought here's one two-hour period where maybe they forgot about all the things that they've had to deal with and they got a chance to enjoy, and that's what sports sometimes can do. It doesn't take away all the pain but it -- it's like a little aspirin maybe for a couple of hours.

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WIRE: WNBA star Brittney Griner officially coming back to play with the Phoenix Mercury. The team posting these pictures after Griner resigned with the team on a one-year deal yesterday. Griner missed all of last season while being detained in a Russian prison for 10 months on drug charges before returning to the U.S. as a part of a prisoner swap.

The 32-year-old, 8-time All-Star and 2-time Olympic gold medalist will return to the court on May 19 as the season tips off against the Sparks in Los Angeles.

[05:45:04]

The New York Yankees opened their spring training schedule on Saturday. All eyes will be on the Judge -- Aaron Judge -- who made history last season hitting 62 home runs -- a new American League record. The reigning A.L. MVP was asked can you do it again this year?

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AARON JUDGE, OUTFIELDER, NEW YORK YANKEES: Well, we'll see -- we'll see, you know. I don't really like putting a number on it. I just like kind of like going out there and trying to control what I can control. But you never know what could happen so we'll see about 62.

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WIRE: And finally, a round of 16 Champions League match-up. Liverpool and Real Madrid in a rematch of last year's Champions League final. Mo Salah putting Liverpool up 2-nil off this goalie gaffe in the 14th minute of action. Tibo Courtois want to get away. Then Real Madrid, though -- they're going to rip off five straight

goals. Liverpool's goalie saying you thought you screwed up -- hold my beer. Alisson Becker trying to clear the ball and kicks it right into Vinicius' leg right into the back of the net.

Real Madrid would go on, Christine, to become the first Champions League team to win by three or more after trailing by multiple goals. A 5-2 win. The next -- second leg is next month.

I think we can all relate to that, Christine. Just out there trying to do our best. Trying to do our job --

ROMANS: Yes.

WIRE: -- and sometimes it just doesn't go our way.

ROMANS: All right, not you. You always hit it perfectly --

WIRE: Oh.

ROMANS: -- right on the -- right on the money, Coy Wire. Nice to see you. Thank you.

WIRE: Thanks, Christine. You, too.

ROMANS: All right, coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING" Russia suspending a nuclear treaty and trying to test-launch a nuclear-capable missile.

And next right here, testing a four-day workweek. What workers and bosses now say about it.

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[05:50:55]

ROMANS: All right, your Romans' Numeral this morning, a million -- as in a million dollars. Norfolk Southern creating a million-dollar fund for Ohio residents after the toxic train derailment in their town. That $1 million seems like a lot -- it isn't for Norfolk Southern. It's not even a rounding error on the billions it gave back to shareholders last year -- $4 billion in stock buybacks. Norfolk Southern passing along its profits to investors.

Looking at markets around the world, Asian markets ended down. Europe is lower. On Wall Street, stock index futures right now basically flat trying to find their footing after a tough day yesterday.

Home Depot and Walmart forecasts raised concerns a resilient American consumer today may grow weary later this year. Worst day for the Dow and the S&P since December 15. The Nasdaq down 2 1/2 percent.

Gas prices were flat overnight at $3.40 a gallon.

And on the housing front, home sales fell for the 12th month in a row, though home prices nationally rose a bit. The housing market is where the Fed's rate hikes have been most noticeable in the -- in slowing the U.S. economy.

The minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting is due out later today.

All right, let's bring in economic analyst at the Morning Consult, Kayla Bruun. So nice to see you, Kayla.

The housing market is cooling. Mortgage rates have doubled. Sales are falling a lot, but prices are only slowing a little.

What's your -- I guess, what's your take on what's happening in housing?

KAYLA BRUUN, ECONOMIC ANALYST, MORNING CONSULT (via Webex by Cisco): So, good morning. Thank you so much for having me back.

You're right. We have the housing report for existing home sales out yesterday, which really makes up the bigger part of the market. And while demand has come way down -- it's down about 37 percent year- over-year and it fell again in January, which some were expecting a bit of a rebound. So on the demand side it's looking very, very weak.

But as I mentioned, with existing home sales being such a big part of the market that also relies on sellers coming into the market and adding to supply. And supply remains very, very tight.

So the fact that when all these buyers are dropping out, a lot of them are also sellers. So sellers have dropped out of the market at almost about the same pace and that's really restricting supply, which has been a bit undersupplied for years, really. It's been a chronic issue.

ROMANS: Right.

BRUUN: So the fact that there's still that pent-up demand and supply is so tight is kind of preventing prices from falling. They've slowed a lot. Growth has slowed a lot but haven't really come down negative.

ROMANS: Look, it makes sense. If you've got a mortgage, like the majority of Americans, below five percent -- if you have a 3 1/2 percent mortgage and you're a seller you don't want to move into a house where you're now going to pay 6.3 percent for a mortgage, right? You're just going to sit on that cheap mortgage if you can. I think that's one of the reasons why you don't have a lot of supply.

You know, the evidence seems to be, Kayla, that inflation is peaking -- still too high, but peaking. The underlying economy is still pretty strong. Are people starting to realize that interest rates may need to be higher for longer, and do you think we'll hear that from the Fed when we see its minutes today?

BRUUN: I would say that the economic data that we've seen this month has probably added a little bit of pressure on the Fed. For one thing, we have the strong jobs report, which that's good news. That's underlying strength in the economy. But it also continues to put upward pressure on wages, which feed into prices in turn. And it's a sign that the interest rate increases haven't really cooled the economy quite the way the Fed is expecting it will need to in order to target those price increases and slow down price growth.

Then the Consumer Price Index -- the CPI report that we've seen so far this month -- that came in a little stronger than expected. Topline inflation is slowing but there were some upside risks in there in some of the categories that Powell is watching. So I'll be curious what he says later today but I do think that there's a bit more pressure on the Fed given the latest economic data.

ROMANS: Yes, record increases in rent as part of that too, which is something that bears watching. Because that's a really hard thing for so many American families.

Kayla Bruun, nice to see you. Come back soon. Thanks.

BRUUN: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right, President Biden in Warsaw marking one year of Russia's war in Ukraine. What to expect on the last day of his visit ahead.

[05:55:02]

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ROMANS: Our top of the morning, the top T.V. shows streaming right now.

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Clip from HBO Max "THE LAST OF US."

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ROMANS: At number one, "THE LAST OF US" with an audience score of 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Here's number two.

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Clip from Netflix "THE ORDER."

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ROMANS: That's "THE ORDER" from Netflix.

And number three.

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Clip from Netflix "RED ROSE."

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ROMANS: OK, that's the creepy "RED ROSE" also from Netflix.

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